Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $92.57 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 419,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,508 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $92,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Radnor Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth approximately $207,000. Capital Management Corp VA lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 34,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares in the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $226,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 77.8% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.73.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $225.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $230.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $221.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.